Early Childhood Educational Research

Cathy Nutbrown is President of Early Education and Professor of Education in the School of Education at the University of Sheffield. Her research over the last 30 years, has focussed on young children’s learning and work with parents to support young children’s literacy development.  She won an ESRC Award for Research with Outstanding Impact on Society and a Nursery World Lifetime Achievement Award. She is author of over 150 publications including Early Literacy Work with Families (with Hannon and Morgan, Sage, 2005), Early Childhood Educational Research (Sage, 2019), and Home Learning Environments for Young Children (with Clough, Davies and Hannon, Sage, 2022).

Morphing between historical reviews and contemporary reports, Cathy examines policy shifts and their impact. Cleverly pepper and salting research, she recursively introduces themes and research questions. As a wise stateswoman who has seen it all before, Cathy reflects on the making of early childhood history, whilst at the same time discussing how it has made her. A must read.

• Chapter 1: Research Threads: Weaving Understandings of Early Childhood Education from the 20th CenturyPart I: ChildrenChapter 2: Children′s Rights and Early Childhood Education and CareChapter 3: Young Children’s Well-Being and SpiritualityChapter 4: Play in Early Childhood Education and CareChapter 5: Children as Participants in their own Learning and in ResearchChapter 6: Poverty in Childhood and the Impact of Early Childhood Education and CareReflection on Part I: Research Focusing on ChildrenPart II: AdultsChapter 7: Parents and Early Childhood Education and CareChapter 8: Inclusion and Diversity in Early Childhood Education and CareChapter 9: Multi-Professional and Inter-Disciplinary Working in Early Childhood Education and CareChapter 10: Professionalism, Qualifications and StatusChapter 11: Leadership in Early Childhood Education and CareChapter 12: Ethics of Work with Young Children in Early Childhood Education and CareReflection on Part II: Research Focusing on AdultsPart III: Learning and TeachingChapter 13: Curricular Approaches: Pedagogy and Practice in Early Childhood Education and CareChapter 14: Early Literacy Development and LearningChapter 15: Languages and Early LearningChapter 16: Digital Technologies and Early Childhood Education and CareChapter 17: Assessment in Early Childhood Education and CareReflection on Part III: 21st Century Research Focusing on Learning and TeachingChapter 18: Research in Early Childhood Education in the 21st Century: Salience, Significance and Challenge